The Making of Hugo

Scholastic has published "The Hugo Movie Companion" book, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Martin Scorsese directed film "Hugo."  From the publisher's website:  "Lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs from the movie, and filled with fun, informative interviews of the cast and crew, comparisons of artwork from the book alongside people, props, costumes, and sets from the movie, plus fascinating information about automatons, filmmaking pioneer Georges Méliès, and an essay on the birth of movies written by Martin Scorsese, The Hugo Movie Companion beautifully extends the experience of the book and the movie, and is a must-have for fans of all ages."


Interviews with Scorsese are featured in the current issue of Fast Company magazine and The Hollywood Reporter. 

Teaching The Language of Film

The Holiday Movie Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine (November 18) contains several items that might be of value to film educators. An entire page is devoted to the costume designs for creating the character Lizabeth in "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo." In addition, this issue contains excerpts from several screenplays.

Recent issues of The Hollywood Reporter (October 14, November 11) may also be useful. Choosing the wardrobe for the main characters in "The Ides of March," is covered in a full page spread in the October issue; while the make-up to transform Leonardo DiCaprio in "J Edgar" is featured in the November issue. The makeup is also a feature in the November 11th issue of Entertainment Weekly. A sidebar references other films (Citizen Kane; Back To The Future; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) in which the main characters age.

New Site for Film Teachers and Fans

FILMBUFFET.COM is a Social Networking & Movie Cataloging site dedicated to movie fans. As a common destination for movie lovers everywhere, it was designed to provide a place to meet, share and build virtual film collections

Register now for Media Literacy Webinar

ISTE, the publisher of my latest book, has invited me to conduct a webinar on media literacy and I hope you might be interested in participating. The date/time is Thursday January 19th, 2012 from 4pm-5pm ET.

The title is: Engaging The Eye Generation: Visual & Media Literacy for the 21st Century 
Webinar description: Join nationally recognized media educator/teacher trainer Frank W. Baker (author of the new ISTE text "Media Literacy In The K-12 Classroom") for this engaging and interactive webinar. Frank promises to provide a multitude of ideas for engaging 21st century learners in both critical thinking and critical viewing. You will be left with many ideas, lesson plans and resources for incorporating media literacy education into the classroom.
Registration is now open; I look forward to "seeing" you online.

Wuthering Heights (film study guide)

The excellent FilmEducation.org resource site from the UK has just posted its film study guide and other resources for teaching the new "Wuthering Heights" film.

Students become the teachers in digital-media experience

Students from the Crenshaw High School  (Los Angeles CA) Digital Media Team used technical, as well as critical-thinking, problem-solving and other skills, to teach an eight-week course in podcasting and digital photography to a group of adult students at a local university, teacher Daphne Bradford says. In this blog post, Bradford describes the project and offers suggestions for creating such an experience at other high schools.

Two November TV Specials on Film

AFI's Master Class: The Art Of Collaboration (Turner Classic Movies) November 15, 8pm ET
This new series opens with a look at the four-decade friendship and working relationship between filmmaker Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams, one of the most prolific and influential artistic collaborations in film history.

Woody Allen: A Documentary (American Masters/PBS) November 20-21 (two parts) 9pm ET (both nights)              

Copyright Survey: An Invitation to Participate

Forwarding for Renee Hobbs
Dear Colleagues:

You may be aware that every three years, the U.S. Copyright Office enables users who believe that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) limits their fair use rights to use copyrighted material for socially beneficial purposes to apply for an exemption. In order to prepare a comment for consideration on behalf of educators and students, we seek your opinions and experiences. Please take five minutes to complete this survey.

Click here:
Educational Use of Copyrighted Movies and Videos
Your opinions are important! Thanks for helping to advance the legal interests of educators and students who are eager to use copyrighted materials for teaching and learning.

Renee Hobbs

Temple University, Media Education Lab